With a brutal Mid-Atlantic winter now a distant memory, hope springs eternal for the upcoming offshore season and if recent events of the past couple weeks are an indication of what’s to come for the 2026 offshore season we’re already off to a good start! Our friends at Roff’s in their sea surface temperature chart issued June 1 shows Gulf Stream eddies have already worked their way into the southern canyons. Sea surface temperatures in the mid to upper 60-degree range are noted at the 500-1000 fathom line of the Norfolk Canyon while the 1000 fathom line and beyond show temperatures in the low 70’s. A bit closer to Cape May, sea surface temperatures in the Wilmington Canyon already are approaching the low 70’s. Additionally, while there have been no reports just yet of white marlin released from Cape May or Ocean City, there are confirmed reports of at least two blue marlin let go by boats sailing from Ocean City, Maryland and yellowfin tuna have also already been decked by boats from there as well. With favorable conditions already taking shape it shouldn’t be long before the first white marlin is let go and the big eyes hit the docks followed shortly thereafter by wahoo and dolphin!
While to official start of summer is a few weeks away, plans are already well underway for the 2026 MidAtlantic and Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman notes registration for this year is well ahead of 2025. “Hurricane Erin had an impact on several east coast events last year including ours,” he noted while adding several boats that pulled out of last year’s event rolled the entry fee over to 2026. “We’re already about 30 boats ahead of where we were this time last year.” Hoffman also notes transient dockage is always at a premium and the best advice he can give is get yours now! “South Jersey Marina in Cape May is already sold out for dockage and Canyon Club Resort Marina is filling up too. Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland also always gets tight for the month of August.”
This year marks the 35th Anniversary of Sportfishing’s “Main Event” and it remains to be seen if the 2026 event can top the wild bite of last year when a mind-boggling 768 white marlin were caught with 761 released including well over 300 let go on the final day of the tournament! The total white marlin caught and number released are both the third highest in the event’s history. Even more impressive is the tournament fleet of 114 boats for all intents and purposes fished three of the six days available due to weather with 41 boats only fishing two days. Based on 301 boat-days of fishing and 768 total white marlin caught that’s a catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of 2.55 white marlin per-boat, per-day! Also worthy of note is a tournament payout of over $3.20 million was handed out to 19 different tournament winners including seven checks of six figures! The top payout of $863,363 went to Jamie Diller of Stone Harbor, New Jersey who had the heaviest white marlin of 75 pounds aboard his Canyon Lady while Danny Jones of Joppa, Maryland won $706,219 for the heaviest blue marlin of 804 pounds aboard his Reel Toy. Joseph Posillico of Jupiter, Florida aboard his Torta took the heaviest tuna prize for a 185-pound big eye and won $329,751. Six additional winners received payouts of $30 thousand or more!
The 2026 MidAtlantic tournament is set for August 16-21 and always attracts the best boats and crews from the entire east coast and beyond. Since the event’s inception back in 1992, Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey has been the event’s signature venue while Sunset Marina continues to be the tournament’s host for participant’s sailing from Ocean City, Maryland. Entry fee is set at $3500 and covers the cost of all dockside dining and hospitality. Participants select three days out of the five days available to fish the canyons off the mid-Atlantic coast. All boats must fish within 125 miles of the Cape May Sea Buoy regardless of the inlet they choose to sail from for Tournament Week. The tournament’s cash purse is tallied from calcutta proceeds and participation in these “side bets” is completely optional. No less than 11 calcuttas are available to enter and vary in fees from $1,000 to $35,000 to enter. Cash payouts are awarded for the three heaviest white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, wahoo and dolphin and are also awarded for the top three billfish points at each port. To qualify a white marlin must measure 69 inches and weigh 65 pounds while a blue marlin must measure 102 inches and weigh 400 pounds. Only big eye, yellowfin and true albacore are eligible in the tuna category and any of those species must weigh at least 50 pounds to qualify while the minimum weight for wahoo and dolphin is 20 pounds. Points are awarded for billfish releases as well as those weighed and for tuna weighed. The top three point winners received custom tournament awards.
Registration for this year’s MidAtlantic is open and can be quickly, safely and easily be completed electronically. The tournament’s web site www.themidatlantic.com has a registration tab in the middle of the Home Page that takes you to a secure site where all entry fees can be paid. The South Jersey Tournaments App also provides a safe and secure way to enter. Simply download the South Jersey Tournaments App for your Apple and Android device, scroll down to The MidAtlantic tournament, and follow the instructions for registering. Those considering participating this year are urged to enter early. Dockage at both host marinas as well as surrounding facilities nearby fills up fast before August so you should act now if you don’t want to be left out of the lineup!
For more information contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177. You can also follow the tournament on Facebook at The MidAtlantic Tournament, on Twitter @midatl and on Instagram @themidatlantictournament.